


What Does that Mean for the Existence of Aliens then?

by simpletumbleweedfarmer



Category: The X-Files
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Mulder and Scully first date, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, based on a Brooklyn Nine Nine episode
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-21
Updated: 2020-04-29
Packaged: 2021-03-02 00:59:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 4,666
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23776486
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/simpletumbleweedfarmer/pseuds/simpletumbleweedfarmer
Summary: Mulder makes a bet with Scully that if he finds the monster first, she has to go out on a date with him.It's just a fake date and she'll never actually love him back...right?
Relationships: Fox Mulder/Dana Scully
Comments: 19
Kudos: 69





	1. Chapter 1

“Mulder, that’s impossible. Besides, it doesn’t make sense.”

“It makes perfect sense. He needs to be around water to survive, and he can’t stay on land much longer. It’s been forty-eight hours and he has seventy-two. The biggest lake that’s close to here is Deep Creek Lake in Maryland.”

Scully stabs a fork into her salad and looks up at Mulder. “First, there’s no scientific evidence that mermaids-“

“Not mermaids, Scully. _Snakefish._ The man was doing genetic experiments on snakefish and merged his DNA with a snakefish-“

Scully looks at him, tilting her head and raising her eyebrow.

Mulder shoves his hands in his pockets, and shrugs. “The evidence lines up.”

“The evidence suggests that this man has a mental condition. It’s more likely he will return to his family’s house just north of Washington. He’s gone there before and it’s closer than Deep Creek Lake.”

“No, Scully, he’s dying. He needs to return to freshwater, and Deep Creek Lake is the only body of water close enough for him to survive.”

“Mulder, the pattern doesn’t fit. It makes no sense why he would travel three hours to Deep Creek when his family lives thirty minutes away. After every murder, there is a report of him being spotted near his family’s house. Besides, snakefish are only currently found in Asia. It’s scientifically impossible.”

“I’m really sure about this, Scully. He’s at that lake.”

“Skinner told us we need to wrap up this case, Mulder. He’s dangerous and he needs to be brought in.”

“I’ll make you a bet.” Mulder leans against the edge of his desk, crossing his arms across his chest. “You go to his family’s house, I go to Deep Creek Lake.”

“Mulder-“

“C’mon, Sculls, put your money where your mouth is. You think I’m wrong? Bet me.”

Scully sighs, a slow smile spreading across her face. “Fine. If I’m right about where he’s going, you do the paperwork for the next ten cases.”

“Deal,” Mulder grins, crossing his arms over his chest.

“And if you win?” Scully puts her hands on her hips. “Not that you will.”

“You go on a date with me.”

“What? Mulder, you’ve got to be joking,” she says, half-laughing, not bothering the hide the shock on her face. “You’re kidding.”

“Them’s the odds, darling. Take them or leave them.” He shrugs, grinning.

“Fine, I’ll take them,” she says, holding out her hand.

Mulder shakes it, and then grabs his suit coat that’s flung over his desk chair.

“Have fun doing the paperwork, Mulder,” Scully flings at him as he tugs on his jacket, fishing out his car keys.

“Don’t worry, I’ll take you on the best date ever,” he throws back, walking out of the basement office, leaving Scully behind.

She smiles, and then walks across the office to the still-open case file on Mulder’s desk. Scully picks up, scanning over the case facts, flipping through the reports.

Something catches her eye, and she pulls back the papers so she can read the entire list. She looks up, for a second, confused, and then tries to hide a smile on her face.

Scully sets the file down, searching on Mulder’s desk for a post-it-note, pushing papers around until she finds one, scribbling a note down on the paper and carefully sticking it to the report in the file, shutting it, tucking it under her arm, and walking out of the office.


	2. Chapter 2

“Looks like I was right, Scully.”

Scully stands on the lake dock next to Mulder, watching as the police cars drive away, Mulder’s snakefish suspect being driven away in handcuffs.

“Certainly looks that way.”

“You’re stuck going on a date with me, Scully.”

Scully looks at her partner, who’s trying very hard not to look like he’s grinning from ear to ear and failing miserably.

“It certainly looks that way, Mulder.” She tucks her hands into her coat pockets, looking over at him. “You were right.”

Mulder nods, crossing his arms over his chest. “You know, it was an easy mistake to make, Sculls. I just really had a strong feeling about this place. I almost felt like I had a connection to this guy and his work-“

“So you’re saying you had a real connection to a man who you believe had infused his DNA with that of an invasive species of fish, namely a snakefish?” Scully looks over at partner, raising an eyebrow, trying to keep the smile off her face. “Are you trying to tell me something, Mulder?”

“I really like fish,” Mulder plays along, as they start walking back to their car. “That’s why I have a fish tank in my apartment, Scully. That’s where I keep the rest of my family.”

Scully laughs, shaking her head. “I’ll remember that next time you ask me to watch your fish. I’ll be more careful remembering to feed them next time.”

They reach the car, and Mulder jogs around to the other side of the car, popping open the car door for Scully before she has the chance to do it herself.

“Thanks, Mulder. Is the date starting now or something?” Scully slides into the car seat, looking up at him.

Mulder leans on the top of the car door, looking down at her, and for some reason, his heart is pounding.

He doesn’t know why, the dangerous part of the case is over.

Every time he looks at Scully, his heartrate picks up.

“You know, Sculls, you don’t have to go on a date with me. It was just a stupid-“

“Fair’s fair, Mulder. Besides, I get a free dinner.”

Mulder shuts the car door, walking around to the other side of the car, and climbing into the driver’s side.

“How about Friday night? 8pm?”

Scully shrugs. “Sounds good.”

Mulder nods, turning on the car and pulling onto the road, and Scully can’t help but notice the fact that he’s still smiling.


	3. Chapter 3

8pm, Friday night, Mulder knocks on Scully’s door.

Okay, it was actually 7:45pm and Mulder had been out in her hallway, pacing back and forth for the last forty-five minutes.

He’d known Scully for years.

She was his partner, his confident, his best friend.

It wasn’t even a real date. It was a stupid bet.

It was just dinner.

Just dinner.

Dinner with his friend.

Just his friend.

He takes a deep breath, pressing the doorbell, swallowing hard, trying to force the nerves back down.

_Just a bet._

_Just a bet and just a dinner._

_Calm down, Mulder._

“Come in, Mulder!” Scully’s voice echoes from the back of her apartment.

Mulder opens her unlocked door, stepping into the apartment that was always cleaner and more put together then his would ever be, shutting the door behind him.

He sets the flowers he brought ( _too much? Yeah, too much, Mulder. Why are you like this?!_ ) on the table by her door, suddenly feeling out of place in the apartment he’d been in a thousand times.

“Uh, Scully, sorry I’m early,” he says, nervously rubbing the back of his neck.

“No, no, it’s fine. I’m running behind,” her voice comes from her bedroom, before she stumbles out, still yanking on a heel. “There.”

Mulder was already nervous.

And now he feels like he could pass out.

No, he’s actually sure he’s going to pass out.

Scully’s standing there, in a short black, strappy dress, and it’s shorter and tighter than anything professional-in-the-office-Scully would ever wear, and Mulder is having an awfully hard time not letting his vision blur and drop to the floor and die.

“You, uh, look nice,” he stammers, trying to sound natural.

Either Scully doesn’t notice how nervous he is, or he’s doing a great job masking it, but she gives him a smile. “Thanks. Since you won, I thought fair’s fair and I’d dress up.”

“Well, I-I, uh, think you look great.”

“Thanks. Ready?”

“Uh, yes, yeah, definitely ready.”


	4. Chapter 4

"So, what’s the plan for tonight?” Scully asks as Mulder climbs into the driver’s seat.

“Well,” he clears his throat. “I thought I’d start with dinner.”

“Always a good start. Where?”

“Seafood. You know, in honor, of the fish.”

Scully laughs, and nods. “Smart choice. Hope you don’t mind eating your family.”

“Anything for you.”

Scully looks slightly taken aback but smiles back.

Mulder gives her a smile back, secretly patting himself on the back.

_You’ve got this._

_You can take Scully out._


	5. Chapter 5

Mulder definitely did not have this.

“This isn’t a negotiation, Agent!” Skinner yells on the other end of the phone as Mulder paces back and forth, right outside of the door of the seafood restaurant he definitely couldn’t afford on a G-man salary.

“Sir, it’s just that I’m kind of in the middle of something.” He glances through the glass into the seafood restaurant, seeing Scully sitting all alone at a table for two, sipping on her wine, in that dress, sitting there…waiting for him.

“Agent Mulder, I don’t care. You and Agent Scully need to get out there and onto that stake out.”

“Fine.” Mulder presses the end call button, shoves his phone in his pocket, staring through the glass, looking at Scully, sitting there.

On a date.

A date that he’ll never get a chance to finish.

Or redo.

“AHHHHH!” Mulder lets out an involuntary scream of frustration, kicking the wall of the restaurant, grabbing his head in both of his hands. “Are you KIDDING ME?!”

He’s sure he curses more than a few times, kicking the wall of the restaurant, trying to calm down long enough to walk in and end his date with Scully.

End his date.

With Scully.

He stops shouting long enough to catch sight of Scully, still sitting at that table, still waiting for him.

He’d loved her from the moment he saw her, all those years ago.

He loves her now, sitting there all alone.

He’d love her for a thousand years.

And she’d never love him back.

He was sure of it.

As sure as he was that there was aliens somewhere up in those stars, he was sure Scully would never love him back.

And now he was on a date with her, one little selfish indulgence he’d let himself have, and he had to cancel.

Scully catches sight of him through the window and makes a “what’s wrong?” look at him, and Mulder doesn’t really acknowledge it, just sort of shrugs.

He watches as she tugs on her jacket, gathers her purse, and marches out of that restaurant and up to him.

“Mulder, what’s wrong?”

“Skinner just called. He has this stakeout he needs us on. I guess you get out of this date after all,” Mulder tries to smile, blow it off all as a joke, but it isn’t working.

Scully slips her arm in his in a very un-Scully move, and looks up at him. “We’ll just have a stake-out date instead. Besides, that place seemed a little out of your price range.”


	6. Chapter 6

Scully looks over at Mulder, who pops another sunflower seed in his mouth. She tucks her legs underneath of her in the car, tucking the blue FBI windbreaker around her, hiding a yawn, glancing over at Mulder, who tosses a sunflower seed in his mouth.

“Good catch.”

Mulder looks over at her and reaches for another sunflower seed. “What?”

“You catching the sunflower seed in your mouth. I could never do that.”

“Want one?” Mulder offers her the small bag of sunflower seeds. “Sorry it isn’t a fancy seafood dinner.”

“To tell you the truth, Mulder, I don’t really love seafood.” Scully takes a few sunflower seeds out of the bag.

“Well, bad choice on my part.”

He looks over as Scully tosses the sunflower seed in the air, leans forward and tries to catch it in her mouth.

It lands down the front of her dress instead.

He looks away, covering his mouth with his hand, trying not to laugh.

“I see you, Mulder. And I told you I couldn’t do this.”

Mulder leans his elbow against the car door, looking over at her as she grabs another sunflower seed and tosses it in the air.

It hits her on the forehead instead.

“No, no, you see the trick here, Scully, is to aim before you throw.” He tosses another sunflower seed in the air, catching it in his mouth.

“You’re just talented, Mulder, that’s all I can say.” She fishes in the bag for another sunflower seed, tossing it in the air again, and missing it completely as it drops to the floor.

“What can I say? I’m a man of many talents.”

She laughs, reaching into the bag again, and tosses a handful of sunflower seeds into the air, this time, catching four of them in her mouth.

The car rains sunflower seeds for a few milliseconds, and Mulder can’t help but laugh.

“The trick, Mulder, is volume.” She brushes the sunflower seeds off of her dress.

“You’re wasting all my sunflower seeds.”

“How about I agree to buy you breakfast after this stakeout?” Scully looks over at him, and Mulder can’t believe she’s asking.

He can’t hide the smile that spreads across his face.

“Excuse me, but this is a date. I’m paying.”

“Fine by me. As long as there’s coffee.” She leans her head back against the car headrest, stifling a yawn.

“Take a nap, Sculls.”

“That seems a rude thing to do on our date,” she says, looking over at him with the sleepiest blue eyes he’s ever seen.

Oh, God, she was going to kill him with that look.

Mulder shifts in his seat, putting his hand on the center consul, trying to get comfortable.

“It’s not really a date anymore,” he mutters. “Or if this is a date, it’s got to be the worst one ever.”

“This is definitely a date,” she confirms. “That was the terms of the bet. This is a date. And this is definitely not the worst date I’ve ever had.”

“What’s the worst then?”

“The worst date I’ve ever had was in college. This guy invited me out to dinner and first of all, was thirty minutes late and so I was sitting there-“ Scully trails off, eyes shut, head dropping onto her shoulder.

Mulder softly chuckles, looking over at his partner, her red hair falling over her eyes. He goes to reach up and brush the hair out of her eyes, when he notices he can’t move his hand.

He glances down and realizes his hand he’d left so innocently next to Scully she’d gently tugged his hand closer to her.

He shifts in his seat, moving his arm ever so slightly closer to her, almost an experiment, waiting to see what sleepy Scully would do.

She did not disappoint.

She slid her fingers into his, shifting in her seat so she could wrap her other arm around his, fast asleep.

“Sculls?” he whispers, hardly believing she was really asleep. It seemed like all this hand grabbing took more brain power then half-asleep Scully would have, but there’s no response from her.

He swears there’s a tiny, almost microscopic grin on her face, but Mulder pushes the thought down.

Scully wouldn’t hold his hand when she was awake.

She must just be cold.

That’s all this is.

She’s just cold and trying to get closer to him because she’s cold.

Damn, it feels nice though.

He gently rubs the back of her hand with his thumb, using his one remaining free hand to brush back the lose strands of hair that fell in her eyes.

Just looking at her, fast asleep beside him, looking so peaceful…Mulder felt a lump in his throat.

He wanted that.

He wanted to wake up next to that every morning.

He wanted her, so badly it hurt.

He wanted to tell her how much he loved her, how crazy about her he was.

He swallows hard, giving her hand a squeeze, and whispers, almost inaudibly, “I love you, Dana Scully.”

She doesn’t move, but he _swears_ he sees her smile.

He swears he sees the corner of her mouth twitch.

Either way, she gives his hand a hard squeeze back.

“Are you awake, Sculls?” he tries again, but she doesn’t respond.

_She’s either an incredible actor or actually out this time_.


	7. Chapter 7

The relief team shows up around 5am.

Scully wakes up around 4:55am, looking incredibly cute with horrific bed head as well as incredibly confused.

Mulder can’t help but feel a little thrill when he realizes that the minute she saw him, she smiled, and squeezed his hand before she let it go (his hand was painfully asleep and numb, but a price had to be paid for love).

“Breakfast?” she’d asked sleepily, stretching, and pulling down the mirror in the sun shield in the car. “I look like a disaster. Sorry I fell asleep on you, Mulder.”

“It’s fine. And you, uh, look fine.”

“We can do breakfast another day. You’ve got to be exhausted,” she tells him, attempting to smooth her hair down with her fingers.

“Nah, I drank a coffee late yesterday, so I’m still not tired.”

Another price to be paid for love.

He had now been awake for twenty-four hours and felt like death warmed over, but he’d be damned about letting this chance to be with Scully escape him.

She gives him a funny look and shakes her head. “Then breakfast it is. And coffee.”

He gives his notes to the relief team (not there was many notes. He’d ripped out the pages of him trying to write a letter to tell Scully he loved her and crumpled them up in his pocket. If he ever told her, it’d be in person. Not that he ever would), and they drive off as the next team pulls in behind them, taking over.

“Where do you want to go for breakfast?”

“Some place with coffee.”

“You’ve mentioned that.”

“Mulder, I need coffee.”

“Understood.”

There’s a diner a few blocks from her place Mulder remembered passing last night, which they quickly agreed on since Scully was sure they had coffee.

They don’t say much on the short drive over, with Scully distractedly desperate to fix her makeup and hair.

He pulls into the parking lot, and parks the car, turning off the engine.

Scully opens the car door, sliding out of the car and trying to pull on her heels from last night.

“I look like I had a very different job last night,” Scully remarks casually, pulling the FBI jacket around her short black dress that was so appropriate for a date last night and yet so inappropriate matched with smeared makeup and bedhead.

“You always look beau-“ he pauses, afraid of the word, but then looks at her again, smeared mascara under her eyes only making her dark circles worse, the tangled red hair that had been hastily pulled back in a short pony tail best she could, the jacket that made it look like she’d honestly forgot to put pants on that morning, and the heels she’d shoved on her feet.

Stunning, gorgeous, beautiful.

He wanted to call her all those words.

You know what, forget being professional.

He was on a date with the love of his life, his dream girl.

He was going to be selfish and say it once.

“You always look beautiful.”

Scully smiles, a soft, grateful smile. “Thanks, Mulder.”

“Let’s get some coffee.” He puts his hand on the small of her back, gently leading her into the diner.

Sleep-drunk Scully is a different Scully.

Scully slides into the booth across from him and as soon as the waitress comes over, she demands two cups of coffee.

Healthy, always worrying about what she’s eating Scully, orders pancakes instead of yogurt and douses them in syrup and whipped cream like there’s no tomorrow.

Mulder orders an omelet and she steals a piece of bacon off his plate with a pretty smile.

She’s polishing off her third cup of coffee, and Mulder tries to hide the smile as she orders another cup.

With cream and sugar.

“What?” she asks, looking at him.

“Nothing, I just…I’ve never seen you eat pancakes. You usually order egg whites or yogurt or something.”

“It’s tradition I started in med school. Every time I pulled an all-nighter for a class or a test, I’d go out and get pancakes that morning,” she explains. “And coffee, obviously.”

“Obviously,” he agrees, taking a bite of his toast. “But, Scully?”

“I know. I fell asleep. It’s the thought that counts.”

“Agreed.”

They’re silent again as Mulder finishes his breakfast and Scully works on her fourth cup of coffee.

Man, that woman loves her coffee.

“Hey…” he looks over at her again. “Do you know this song?”

She sets her mug down, listening for a second. “I think so.”

Every muscle in his body is screaming “I love you, I love you, I LOVE YOU” and he wants nothing more than to scream it at her.

Instead, he does something even more rash.

Sleep-drunk Mulder is a different Mulder, too, apparently.

He slides out of the booth, and offers her his hand, looking away. He doesn’t want to see her face when she rejects him.

“Mulder!” she laughs, taking his hand. “What are you doing?”

He yanks her to her feet, sliding his fingers into hers, gently putting an arm around her waist.

“But I do know that I love you, and I know that if you love me, too, what a wonderful world this would be,” he sings, well, really says as he twirls her around.

In the middle of a diner.

At 6am on a Saturday morning.

On a date that started with a bet and ended in a stakeout.

What a weird date.

Her blue eyes meet his and they soften, and she puts her arms around his neck.

Wow, sleep-drunk Scully is really a different person.

“Mulder. We’re in a diner.”

“And? No one else is here.”

She shakes her head, but doesn’t pull away, and Mulder feels encouraged.

They dance, well, really, sway, to the music, and Mulder lets her go for a moment, spinning her around, and then pulling her back up against him.

She laughs, singing along, letting him dance with her.

“I can’t believe you’re dancing with me,” he says softly.

“You underestimate me, Mulder. I can be spontaneous. Especially on an hour of sleep.”

He laughs, holding her close as the song fades out, with “if you loved me too, what a wonderful world it would be.”

_Yes, yes, it would be._

“Coffee beans grow by the billions, so they've got to find those extra cups to fill, they've got an awful lot of coffee in Brazil…” the radio starts up, and Mulder looks at Scully, the moment broken, grinning just a little bit.

“Sounds like your song.”

She gently hits his arm, as he lets her go. “Mulder!”

He pays the bill at the counter, noting the weird way their waitress looks at them (he can’t decide if it’s because of how Scully’s dressed or the fact they were dancing in the diner).

They walk out to the car, and Scully climbs into the passenger side, kicking off her heels again.

“I’ll drop you off at home, okay?”

“Sure.”


	8. Chapter 8

They’re quiet, but Mulder leaves his hand on the center consul, hoping that she’ll take it again like she did when she was asleep.

He’s turning onto her street when he feels her slip her fingers into his.

“Well, hope that date wasn’t too horrible,” he says, parking the car outside of her building, looking over at her.

“It was the perfect first date,” she tells him, sliding her hand out of his, leaning down to pull on her shoes again.

“Thanks, I know it was just a bet-“ he stops talking for a moment, her exact words hitting him. “Wait, _first_ date?”

She sits up, shoes now firmly on her feet, and looks over at him. “Yes, Mulder. First date.”

“I mean,” he laughs nervously. “This was just that stupid bet, Sculls, you don’t have to go out with me again-“

“Mulder. I threw the bet.”

“Wait…what?” He feels like he was just hit with a curveball coming at his head at 90 miles per hour.

Scully…. intentionally lost the bet.

To go on a date.

With him.

“I lost the bet. On purpose,” she says. “That is what throwing a bet means.”

“Why?” he stammers, looking at her, not quite fulling understanding what she meant.

“Because I wanted to go on a date with you. You were never going to ask me and I didn’t know how you’d feel about me asking you, so when you made it the stakes of the bet, I threw the bet.”

“How’d….how’d you know he’d be at Deep Creek Lake?”

Scully fishes under the seat, pulling out her black bag she’d had last night, and yanks out a (slightly bent) case file, handing it to him.

Mulder takes it from her, flipping through the reports, and stopping when a yellow post-it-note catches his eye.

“Hey Mulder,

His family has a cabin at Deep Creek Lake. I was right, he was going to his family’s house.

Since I won the bet, and you lost, you have to kiss me.

And promise to take me out for dinner next week.

Love,

Your Scully”

He looks up from the note to Scully, who’s looking at him, almost expectantly.

“Looks like I lost the bet,” he says, mouth suddenly dry.

“Yes, it does,” she says, slightly smiling.

“I guess I have to kiss you now.”

“Unless you don’t want to. There’s no pressure, Mulder.”

Want to?

Oh, baby, he’s wanted to since the moment he saw her.

He’s a little too old to be making out in cars again, but he supposes he still remembers how to do it.

“I want to kiss you,” he tells her, and leans forward, putting his hand on her cheek, pushing her hair out of way with his thumb, feeling like his heart’s about to explode.

She presses her lips to his and he could die happy now.

Oh, it’s a wonderful world indeed.

She pulls away entirely too soon for his liking, smiling. “Took you long enough.”

“What?”

“I’ve loved you for years, Mulder. Took you long enough to make a move.” She leans across the car, pressing a kiss to his cheek.

“Well, I-“ he stammers, not really sure how to respond to that.

“Dinner? Tomorrow night?”

“Yes,” he breathes out, staring up at her.

_I love you, Dana Scully._

_I love you, I love you, I love you._

“Good. I’m looking forward to it. Get some sleep.” She opens the car door, climbing out, pausing for a minute with the car door open.

“Mulder?”

“Yes?”

“I love you.”

He sits there, shocked for a minute, as she slams the car door shut and starts walking up the sidewalk to her apartment.

He’s paralyzed in his seat for a second.

_She loves me._

_Dana Scully loves me._

_And you didn’t say it back, you idiot._

He scrambles out of the car, leaning against the open car door. “Scully!”

She turns around at the building door, looking back at him. “Yes?”

“I love you, too!”

He can see her smile from here, and she waves, disappearing into the building.

He falls back into the car, just sitting there, staring out the window.

Dana Scully loved him back.

It was an impossibility as of a few hours ago.

He had been so sure she didn’t love him back.

And now?

She loved him back.

He had been so sure, as sure as he was that there was aliens somewhere up in those stars, he had been sure Scully would never love him back.

And yet she did.

That’s when it hits him.

If Scully loved him then …

What does that mean for the existence of aliens then?


End file.
